Curable silicone compositions are used in a variety of applications that ranges from the automotive industry to medical devices. Typical commercial formulations of liquid silicone rubber (LSR) compositions include a multi-component mixture of a vinyl-containing polydiorganosiloxane, a hydrogen-containing polydiorganosiloxane, catalyst, and filler. Often, the commercial formulation is a two-part formulation that is mixed together prior to use. Once the commercial formulation is mixed, the silicone composition is subsequently molded or extruded and vulcanized.
In many cases, the silicone composition is coupled to a variety of substrates such as polymeric, metallic, or glass substrates. For instance, silicone compositions are used as a coating or a laminate over a variety of polymeric substrates. Typically, a primer is used between the silicone composition and the substrate. Alternatively, the backbone of the silicone composition may be formulated to provide the silicone composition with adhesive properties to various substrates, such that a primer is optional. Often, such silicone compositions are referred to as self-bonding silicone compositions.
While self-bonding silicone compositions desirably improve bonding to particular substrates, such compositions are generally orders of magnitude more expensive than other silicone formulations. In addition, manufactures of products that use such self-bonding silicone compositions are limited in their ability to customize such formulations to better suit a particular product or process. As a result, manufacturers are often left to choose between desired bonding properties or desired mechanical properties, without an option to acquire both.
As such, an improved silicone formulations and method of manufacturing silicone-including articles would be desirable.